infinite zestJapan doesn't really grow much in the way of produce and imports it which makes the same 5 dollar watermelon in China 50 dollars in Japan, or a tallboy of Sapporo 6 dollars in the states, etc. etc. Still the same watermelon and crappy beer though.

Old_ZirconI'm surprised by how much more expensive they are, though. I'd have guessed maybe . Do they have some kind of serious tariff on imports? A durian shipped halfway around the world only costs like or here.

Crab MentalityI got a Sapporo the other day, and the can said it was made in Canada. I felt betrayed.

infinite zestI think the example was on the high-end and not the average, kind of like how you never hear about gas prices unless they're really high or really low.

Binro the HereticIn 1910, a pair of entrepreneurs had a scheme to import hippos and set up hippo ranches in the swampy lands along the American Gulf Coast.

Their reasoning was, since cattle can't graze in swamps, hippos should be raised for meat in Louisiana and Florida. As a bonus, the hippos would eat up all the invasive water hyacinth that was wreaking havoc with the ecology and economy.

They got shockingly far with their plan and even had backers in the government willing to fund the scheme with tax dollars.

I shit you not.

Old_ZirconMore reasonable than that wealthy guy in the late 19th century who made it his life's work to import every species of bird in the world into Central Park and got up to around 130 invasive species before he died. We're still paying for his hobby.